Abstract

Abstract:

There exists an entrenched notion among modern scholars, which is supported by both Christian and Manichaean texts, that Manicheans rejected the Old Testament as a product of Satan, and yet Manichaean writings also contain numerous loans of various kinds from the Old Testament. The question about the status and role of Jewish scripture in Manichaeism, then, is more complex than is commonly assumed. This article discusses the origin of the Manichaean rejection of the Old Testament in the anti-Manichaean polemic of orthodox Christian authors in the first half of the fourth century. In particular, it analyzes their reaction to Manichaean biblical exegesis and proposes possible sources of their knowledge about the Manichaean position on the Old Testament. Above all, this article argues that the wholesale rejection of the Old Testament as the devil's handiwork reflects less Mani's original teaching than it does later developments in the Manichaean tradition.

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